My son has some learning disabilities and was diagnosed years ago with an acquired brain injury from oxygen deprivation as an infant. He's had some trouble over the years being bullied, and even though he is very smart he struggles in school due to his disabilities.
I'm not making excuses -- I'm just setting the stage.
He got roaring drunk on New Year's Eve with some older friends. I was upset and shocked, but boy looking back that was the tip of the iceberg. I soon discovered that my 14 year old son was smoking marijuana fairly regularly.
I separated him from the older kids -- kids he grew up with.
Then less than a month later he got high on some hallucinogen and wound up in the ER (cops, paramedics -- the whole 9 yards). He was in the ICU for 2 days and then the hospital had him committed. He was hospitalized for 6 days.
He is now in weekly therapy and has a psychiatrist (he's had a psychiatrist for years -- this one is new and seems good). I've since discovered that he did hash and loved cough syrup. Hallucinogens were his "thing."
I took him to NA for awhile and at first he liked it, but we aren't that religious and the whole "higher power" religious overtones turned him off. He does seem better, but who knows?
On the "good news" front he has begun hanging out with a younger kid in our neighborhood who is a straight "A" student and does chores to earn money. . . I see him as a good influence on my son.
Well, that is my intro. My son recently turned 15. . .
